The British indie DIRTY FILTHY LOVE offers a quirky spin on the standard romantic-comedy formula with the tragicomic misadventures of its neurochemically-addled hero. Mark Furness (Michael Sheen) is a thirtysomething architect whose marriage and career are threatened by his increasing obsessive-compulsive disorder and Tourette’s syndrome, which include repetitive and completely involuntary activities such as stair-counting, hand-washing, and swearing. When his wife Stevie (Anastasia Griffith) files for divorce and he loses his job to a subordinate, Mark turns to his doctor for help but instead meets a kindred soul, Charlotte (Shirley Henderson), who immediately diagnoses Mark’s mental disorders and offers him therapy via her own self-help group. The film’s darkly humorous yet poignant tone is carried by Sheen’s nuanced performance and an unsentimental script co-penned by Ian Puleston-Davies, whose own experiences with OCD lend authenticity to the proceedings.
